


it's snowing a lot today

by assclassination (celexte)



Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: F/M, i love karumana i wish i could write it better
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-03
Updated: 2017-02-03
Packaged: 2018-09-21 19:55:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9563981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celexte/pseuds/assclassination
Summary: “Let’s walk home together,” Karma sing-songs, linking arms with Manami (despite her protests.)“Wait, don’t you live the opposite way?” she asks doubtfully.He laughs like windchimes. “Don’t worry about trivial things, Okuda-san. Let me handle it.”





	

At the edge of the field, there’s a hill covered in tall grass that touches Manami’s knees, and she often finds Karma lying down at the top. “It’s the place closest to the moon,” he told her, eyes closed and hands behind his head, “and I’d rather be anywhere but here.”

She sits beside him on slow afternoon-almost-evenings, when the stars are still hiding and it’s still warm enough to be outside sans jacket. “I’d like to know some things,” she starts, because it seems like an appropriate time. She realizes that she knows barely anything about Karma, and not even if his typical feline grin is just a facade. 

“Why did you talk to me in the first place?”

He whistles a little, pushing himself up with his hands to sit up. “Heavy stuff, Okuda-san. But here’s your answer: I thought you looked a little lonely.” A statement of fact. There’s nothing malicious in his golden eyes, so she nods.

“To be honest, you looked a little lonely, too,” she replies. 

Karma laughs loudly. “Me?”

“Yeah,” Manami says seriously. “I, uh, saw when you turned back to your book after talking to the others. You looked… very tired.”

It’s clear that Karma hasn’t considered this fact. He’s silent abruptly, just stares contemplatively into the distance. He doesn’t deny anything. After a while, he forces a chuckle. “So, you and I, we’re pretty similar after all, aren’t we?”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“No, not at all.” His teasing smile returns. “A good thing, I think. Or else I might have looked a little lonely forever.”

Manami pulls her knees closer to her chest, and Karma lies down again - this time, a little closer to her. They share the loneliness now, something like sharing silence. She can see his red hair shine in the orange light.

 

It snows hard that year, so Manami wears boots to school. To wait out the snow, she spends time in the little chemistry lab near her homeroom class. It’s become a little haven for her - a place where no one else goes.

Today’s a Friday, a stormy one. Looking out the window, the snowfall has seemed to stop. She pulls her jacket over her shoulders and starts cleaning up the chemicals, humming as she works. So far, she loves wintertime.

As she walks through the door, a crumpling sound shocks her. Karma looks at her, blinking wide gold eyes. In his hand is a rumpled strawberry milk carton.  “Why, hello, Okuda-san. Didn’t see you there.”

“A-Akabane-san,” she says, still recovering from the suddenness of his appearance. “What are you-”

“Waiting for the snow to stop, oh look, it has! Let’s walk home together,” Karma sing-songs, linking arms with Manami (despite her protests.)

“Wait, don’t you live the opposite way?” she asks doubtfully.

He laughs like windchimes. “Don’t worry about trivial things, Okuda-san. Let me handle it.”

 

Karma seems unbothered by the snow, but mentions “watch the ice here, Okuda-san,” or “it’s a long walk home in the cold, huh?” every so often. Absorbed in the scenery, she almost forgets that Karma’s there. After ten minutes of walking, she realizes that this isn’t exactly the way home.

“A detour,” Karma says. His words come out in little white puffs of air.

She doesn’t question him - Karma always knows what he’s doing. 

He flicks his eyes to her as they walk, and suddenly says, “Hey, let me hold that for you.” 

Manami shrugs her backpack over a shoulder. “No, it’s not that heavy, so it’s okay,” she assures him, but he grabs her hand instead. 

It’s so uncharacteristically Karma that she thinks it’s a dream.

She doesn’t say anything. His touch is warm.

 

(“Why were you at school so late?” she asks, glancing up at him. He’s so tall when he’s not slouching.

“Oh, just… you know.” He pauses awkwardly. “I was waiting for you.”

“Oh,” she exclaims quietly, a breath clouding her glasses. “Did we make plans to meet? I’m sorry, it slipped my mind… I should have remembered.”

Karma smiles. “No, we didn’t make plans this time. It was just… a spur-of-the-moment thing.”

Karma is like this. Impulsive, electric, he never stays in one place too long. Manami wonders if she bores him sometimes, but he never shows it. 

Their hands are still connected. It reminds her of late-afternoon-almost-evening sunshine. Here: a gentle side of Karma Akabane. She laughs a little, and Karma doesn’t ask why.)

 

It was a roundabout walk, but Karma and Manami make it to her house. By this time, flakes have began to fall from the sky again, and Karma absentmindedly swipes a few bits of snow from Manami’s hair. “Home sweet home.”

“For me at least,” Manami says, frowning. “Will you even make it home before dark?”

“Are you worried about me, Okuda-san?” he asks, bright-eyed.

“Yes,” she says, a little exasperated. “I’m worried that it’ll snow again and you won’t be able to go home.”

Karma stuffs his hands into his cardigan pockets, walking up the steps to Manami’s house. “Oh, I see. Guess I’ll have to wait out the snow again, right?”

Manami doesn’t quite trust the smirk. He’s up to something, as always, so she just sighs and unlocks the door.

He strolls in as if he knows the place, but not before turning around and saying, “Thank you for everything, Okuda-san.”

 

Manami’s parents are gone for the week, so Karma helps himself to the couch, curling up on it like a cat. She surveys him for a few seconds before asking, “Would you like something to drink?”

“No, this is good. This is just fine. Thanks,” he murmurs, and Manami recognizes the tiredness. Here, he looks genuinely soft. She retrieves a blanket from the spare room and drapes it over Karma. “Thank you, Okuda-san… I say that too much, don’t I? Well, it’s okay. I’m never tired of saying it, but are you tired of hearing it?”

Manami sits cross-legged on the olive rug near the fire, across from the couch. “I always like hearing what you have to say, Akabane-san.”

He chuckles, sits up, and pats the cushion beside him. It takes her a moment to understand the cue and sit down beside him. Without warning, he immediately lolls his head onto Manami’s shoulder, slouching a little to account for her shortness. (Manami squeaks a little, but doesn’t protest. He looks… strangely comfortable lying there next to her, and this thought causes her heart to pound.)

“I’d like to tell you something,” he says quietly.

“Okay.”

“I’ve never liked routine,” Karma says then, shuffling further into Manami’s side, “and I’ve always been a spontaneous person. But for some reason, I keep returning to you.” A long pause. “You’re different, Okuda Manami-san. I’m glad to know you.”

“It’s snowing hard,” is all she can manage. “It’s going to be a while before you can go home.”

 

(“That’s okay. I want to stay here as long as I can,” he murmurs sleepily. 

When his eyes flutter shut, Manami says, “I’m glad to know you, too.”)

**Author's Note:**

> this is all over the place oops but i love karumana goodbye


End file.
